HomePod Won’t Have Apple’s Best New Feature

Apple is expected to release the first beta version of its Apple Intelligence platform later this month. Starting with select iPhone, Mac, and iPad models, it will be the company’s moment to show how its large language models can compete with OpenAI ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and other players focused on on-device processing.

For now, Apple says AI will be in beta even when iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia are released later this fall. The company expects a full launch later this year, and then plans to continue building new features and supporting more languages. Now, however, the report pours cold water on our hopes for HomePod with Apple Intelligence.

In his Power on Bulletin, Bloomberg Mark Gurman says he doesn’t expect Apple to offer Apple Intelligence technology for its smart speakers because the market is so thin. “It’s too small a product to waste engineering time on,” he writes. But I think Apple Intelligence might be the best feature the HomePods could have.

Apple’s AI solutions will now work with notification summaries, context-aware Siri, and writing tools. In the case of HomePod, having a smarter Siri would be very useful, especially since Apple doesn’t have a device that can match Amazon’s or Google’s speakers in the intelligence department.

Photo credit: José Adorno for BGR

While I understand that despite the advanced chip design, Apple LLM computers require at least 8GB of RAM, it feels like a wasted opportunity to exclude a product that has been discontinued and brought back to life in a few years from the company’s AI plans .

I think Apple HomePods could be the perfect hub for a smart home. However, Apple simply doesn’t think about this product that way. AI could certainly help me control my connected devices, set reminders, summarize notifications, and more, but it looks like we’re stuck with Siri barely downloading the songs you want to listen to properly.

HomePod won’t get Apple Intelligence, but its siblings may get it

Fortunately, all hope is not lost. While we can assure you that the HomePod 2 will not receive Apple Intelligence, Gurman writes that an “entirely new robotic device with a display that has Apple Intelligence at its core” is in the works.

Over the past few months, we’ve heard that Apple is working on a number of home robots. While it’s unclear which one will see the light of day, Gurman is confident that a HomePod and iPad hybrid product could eventually see the light of day.

If this turns out to be true, Apple could finally have a competitor similar to the Amazon Echo Show, with good speakers, a great picture, and built-in Apple Intelligence for controlling your home, handling bills, and playing your favorite songs.

The journalist claims that Apple Intelligence intends to expand its business with Apple Vision Pro in 2025, which means that the company’s next major product will be created and will become part of its new artificial intelligence efforts.